Horseshoe.



w. J. MOORE.

HORSESHOE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNBE), 1912.

Patented July 29, 1913.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

WILLIAM J. MOORE, OF PITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF TO THOMAS E. GASSIDY, 0F ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS.

HORSESHOE.

Specification-of Letters Patent.

Patented July 29, 11913.

Application filed June 5, 1912. Serial No. 701,926.

To alllwhomz't may concern.

Be it known that 1,.WILLIAMI J Moonn,

of Pittsfield, in the county of Berkshire and State of Massachusetts, have invented certainnew and usefullmprovements in Horseshoes-yand I do hereby declare the following to be-a full, clear," and exact description of the invention, such: as willl enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.-

The primary object of this invention-is to provide a. horseshoe with a readily1detachable tread which may. be replaced without removing the shoe.

A further obj cotis to .provide ahorseshoe with a. tread which will prevent slipping, and which mayhave a. limited resiliency. And aifurther object is to -provide auxiliary attaching meansfor the tread.

In theacconipanying drawings,.Figure 11 is a bottom plan View of a shoe constructed in accordance withmy invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan View of, the shoe. FlgeiilS across-sectional View online 33, Fig. 1. Fig. Tis a bottom planview. of a portion of.

the hooks at one end of the shoe being,

readily bendable so as to insure the fastening of the tread and its ready detachment. In its preferred form, the tread consists of a chain having a series of twisted links and so arranged that each of the links will equally take the weight of the horse, and as all of the links have a certain amount of movement balling is avoided.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the body or shoe proper, and 2 a series of hooks or prongs irregularly struck from the shoe, the line from which each prong is struck being divergent to the lines of the others and transversely oblique to the trend of the body, such prongs projecting downwardly. and'outwardly, the outer ends lying parallel with the shoe, and set ata slight angle.

Although the shoe itself is shown of the usual U-shape, yet if desired it may be formed from asolid plate which will extend entirely across'the hoof. At one end the shoe has an inwardly extending hook 3, while the hook 2 at its opposite end is paralleled by an additional hook 4 which projects in the opposite direction to the end hook 5 designates the tread, which is shown as composed of aseries of units, preferably steel links, slightly twisted so that each will have its portion of the horses weight. The chainis secured to the shoeby causing one end link to engage-the end hook 3 and it is then passed over the under surface of the shoe in such manner that the several hooks 2 will interengage the links and thereby hold itgin-place. The other end of the chain after being passed over the end hook 2 is fastened by bending the additional hook d toward the end hook 2, or the latter toward the former, thereby drawing the chain taut. The retaininghooks are set at aslight angle to insure the proper engagement of the links therewith. If they were not so angled the links could not uniformly engage with the hooks. Itisnecessary, in applyingthe chain to begin at the hook 3, since otherwise proper engagement with the hooks is not possible.

If, in practice, the chain should become Worn or broken it is only necessary to separate the hook 4 from the adjacent end hook 2, whereupon the chain may be readily removed from the shoe and a new one substituted. Should any one of the retaining hooks become broken, an auxiliary hook 6 may be substituted. Such hook is shown at .7, in Fig. 5, and it will be observed that it is formed with a U-shaped portion 8 for taking in either side of the shoe. This may be readily applied to the latter by a blacksmith, with the result that the breaking or injury of one of the tread-retaining hooks will not involve the loss of the shoe. In fact, if desired, instead of striking up the hooks from the shoe itself the latter may be made perfectly plain and a series of hooks applied thereto after the manner stated. either of the end hooks be broken the tread may be temporarily secured to the shoe by wires passed through the end links and openings 9 in the extreme ends of the shoe.

Should Although I have specially designed this tread may be widely varied. It may, for in'-" stance, be composed wholly of rubber or of heavy coiled wire, but best results may be obtained by one of rubber with a metallic core which latter will project beyond the ends of the rubber so as to form loops or links for engaging the end hooks of the shoe, the rubber being forced between the shoe and the intermediate retaining hooks. In Fig. 6 I have shown a tread of this character, the rubber being indicated at 10 and the core at 12.

The advantages arising from my invention are numerols and most of them will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Among these might be cited the fact that in using a tread composed of correspondingly formed links the danger of balling is avoided since the link members will move more or less, under the weight of a horse, and thereby serve to dislodge snow, ice, mud or stones which may become embedded in the shoe or the tread. In the use of my shoe, there is no danger of a horse injuring itself in the manner known as calking, and in standing on a wooden floor there 1s less injury than arises from calks. Furthermore, a practically new shoe may be provided by merely substituting a new tread, without having to remove the shoe from the foot.

Changes may be made without departing from the scope of my invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A horseshoe comprising a body having a series of angularly disposed hooks projecting from the underside of the body substantially throughout its length, the radial line of each hook being divergent to the others,

ends by said retaining means and to be engaged and held by said hooks.

3. A horseshoe comprising a body having hooks at its two ends, a series of'hooks struck from said body on divergent lines and being transversely oblique to the trend of the body, and a tread composed of a chain secured to said end hooks and interengaging the inter mediate hooks, and means for cooperating with one of said end hooks for detachably fastening the chain thereto.

4. A horseshoe comprising a body having hooks at its ends, a series of intermediate hooks, and an additional hook adjacent to one of said end hooks, and a tread composed of a chain of flexible twisted links held by said hooks, said additional hook being flexed to lock one end of said tread to one of said end hooks- 5. A horseshoe comprising a body having hooks at its ends, a series of intermediate hooks, and an additional hook adjacent to one of said end hooks, and a tread composed of a chain of flexible twisted links interengagingly held by said intermediate hooks, said additional hook being flexed to lock one end of said chain to one of said end hooks.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM J. MOORE.

\Vitnesses JAMES H. SHELLY, FRANoIs S. MAGUIRE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

